THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS 139 



undiluted. Inflammation of the tongue may also arise from some 

 unforeseen cause ; and I have seen this occur on several occasions, 

 both in horse and cow, when the inflammation has been so extensive 

 and the tongue so much swollen and so hard that the mouth was 

 pressed open with the tongue protruding out of the front of the lips 

 for 4 or 5 inches, while saliva ran from the mouth, and the animal 

 breathed with great difficulty, being, in fact, so threatened with 

 suffocation that tracheotomy had to be performed. These cases are, 

 as a rule, not noticed until the disease is so far advanced that there 

 is no chance of any successful treatment, for the mouth is so full 

 with the swollen tongue that medicine cannot be administered. 

 Treatment. — In such cases the tongue has to be scarified — that is, 

 cut by plunging a lancet or a very sharp penknife into the pro- 

 truding portion, and the mouth washed with boracic antiseptic lotion 

 (par. 1069, No. III.), the lotion being injected into the mouth with 

 an enema syringe, and suitable doses of nuclein hypodermically 

 injected daily. The tongue, in many instances, also becomes 

 hard or indurated from chronic inflammation of its substance, and 

 when in this state has to be scarified with the lancet and dressed 

 daily with tincture of iodine. 



231. The Fraenum — the guide or bridle of the tongue — is the 

 membrane by which the tongue is attached to the lower jaw, and 

 occasionally it is torn by the bit getting under the tongue, and being 

 roughly pulled at by the rider or driver. I have seen some bad 

 cases of this kind. Treatment. — Keep the bit out of the mouth until 

 the parts are healed, and wash the mouth night and morning with 

 the boracic acid lotion {par. 1069, No. III.). 



232. Ulcers on the tongue are sometimes met with in the horse, 

 and are generally due to injuries occasioned by the sharp edges or 

 irregular wear of the teeth. Cows and sheep suffer from this even 

 more than horses (see 'Digestive Organs,' Part II., Foot and 

 Mouth Disease). Treatment. — Wash the mouth with the boracic 

 acid lotion, and if the teeth are at fault, dress them with the tooth- 

 rasp (Plate XX XI 1 1., Fig. 4). 



233. Dogs and Cats frequently pick up needles and pins, or 



